The Sad Night or the Victorious Night?

In 1519 the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés with his small band of soldiers landed on the gulf coast of Mexico.  Lured by tales of the riches of the Aztecs, they marched inland to the capital city of Tenochtitlán.  Along the way the Spanish formed an alliance with the Tlaxcaltecas, an enemy tribe of the Aztecs.

In November of 1519 the Spanish with their Tlaxcalteca allies arrived at Tenochtitlán.  The great Aztec capital, located where Mexico City stands today, was built on an island in the middle of a shallow lake that once covered much of the Valley of Mexico.  A number of causeways connected the island city with the lake shore. 

The Aztec emperor, perhaps believing that Cortés was the god Quetzalcoatl, welcomed the invaders into the city, and gave them lodging in one the royal palaces.  Cortés, realizing his precarious situation in a large, potentially hostile city, brought Moctezuma to the palace where the Spanish were staying and took the emperor hostage.

For several months there was an uneasy peace between the Aztecs and the invaders dwelling in their midst.  But in June of 1520 a powder keg was ignited when one of the Spanish officers, Pedro de Alvarado, fearing an Aztec attack, slaughtered a number of nobles and priests.  The people of Tenochtitlán rose up and laid siege to the palace where the Spanish were housed.  Cortés had Moctezuma appear before his people to convince them to lay down their arms.  But Moctezuma's subjects jeered him and began throwing stones at him, resulting in the emperor's death.  

The Spanish and their Tlaxcalteca allies had no choice but to try to escape the city across one of the causeways.  The Aztecs had breached the causeways to prevent their escape, but the Spanish built a portable bridge to span the gaps.  On the night of June 30, 1520, under the cover of a heavy rainstorm, the Spanish attempted to sneak out of the city.  The soldiers had been allowed to grab what they wanted of the gold and other booty which Moctezuma had given them.  

Before they reached the causeway, the Spanish were spotted, and the Aztecs sounded an alarm.  As the Spanish and Tlaxcaltecas reached the causeway they were being chased by Aztec warriors, and Aztec canoes were harassing them on either side.  The portable bridge enabled the Spanish and their allies to cross the first breach in the causeway, but they were unable to move the bridge in order to span the other gaps.  The retreating troops had to try to swim across the breaches, but many, weighed down by their armor and booty, drowned in the shallow lake, or were killed by the natives attacking from their canoes.  As the death toll mounted, the fleeing soldiers were able to cross the breaches by walking over the bodies of the dead.   When the survivors had reached the lake shore, the extent of their defeat became apparent.  Hundreds of Spaniards and thousands of Tlaxcaltecas had perished.  Cortés sat down beneath a large cypress tree and wept.  The disastrous event became known as "La Noche Triste"...the Sad Night.

The remaining Spaniards managed to return to the safety of Tlaxcala.  There they reorganized and by the following year were able to defeat the Aztecs and take control of central Mexico.

So why am I telling this episode of Mexican history?  On Saturday, when Alejandro and I were driving out of the city, we passed the remains of the tree where Cortés is said to have wept on the "Noche Triste".  I had noticed that there was a subway stop not far away, so on Monday I decided to make a quick trip to take a closer look at the Tree of the Sad Night.  I changed metro lines twice and arrived at the Popotla station.  The remains of the tree are located a few blocks away on a wide avenue called "Calzada México Tacuba".  It's a nondescript part of the city devoid of anything of tourist interest except for this one small historic site.

 

All that is left of the tree is a portion of the trunk.  The green leaves in background are of a smaller, younger cypress tree... perhaps a descendent of the original?

 

The plaque at the base of the tree says, "At this tree Hernán Cortés cried after the defeat before the Aztec defenders."

On a wall next to the little park where the tree is located there is a mural painting which depicts the Aztecs attacking the fleeing Spaniards.

                                    

The title of the painting unmistakably reveals the sentiments of the artist...

"The Night of Victory".